Succulents and More™

Not every garden project has to be a major undertaking. In fact, most are small, completed quickly, but with immediate impact. This post is a good example. The area I’m talking about is next to the front door, so we walk by it multiple times a day. I’ve been low-grade dissatisfied with it for some time, but I didn’t have any specific plans. I don’t know what possessed me, but earlier this week, I decided to rip out the two out-of-control clumps at the base of the largest of our three ponytail palms ( Beaucarnea recurvata ):  Oscularia caulescens (top) and Aloe × spinosissima (bottom). The Hechtia argentea on the right is one of my favorites, and it won’t go anywhere. Oscularia caulescens (top) and Aloe × spinosissima (bottom) at the base of the largest of our three ponytail palms ( Beaucarnea recurvata ) A slightly different angle: A closer view: Ground-level view: For comparison, this what this spot looked like in March 2022: March 2022 In the 4½ years since the photo above w...

It’s official: Summer is over. The days are getting shorter, but to me, the most obvious sign of fall is the quality of the light: In the summer, the light is glaring and harsh. At this time of year, it’s noticeably warmer because the sun is lower in the sky. I complain about the summer and the heat all the time during the summer , but at the cusp of fall, when summer is slipping away, I don’t want to let it go. Looking at the forecast for next week, it appears summer isn’t quite ready to fade away either: temperatures in the low to mid-90s for a solid week, starting tomorrow. Sorry for the random introduction, but here’s the late-September edition of This and that . BRUNSRYLLIS FLOWERING FOR THE FIRST TIME No, “brunsryllis” isn’t a typo, nor is it a rare tropical disease. It’s a hybrid between two South African bulbs, Brunsvigia litoralis and Amaryllis belladonna . I’ve never seen a Brunsvigia litoralis in real life ( it looks like this ), but Amaryllis belladonna is the common nake...

Gravity is a good thing. But too much of a good thing is not so good anymore. I’ve been battling an excess of gravity in the garden for a while. Here are the two most recent examples. Yucca queretaroensis (or, more likely, a naturally occurring hybrid between Yucca queretaroensis and Yucca filifera ) has become a signature plant in front of the house. It’s now over 7 ft. tall. But it’s not only grown in height, it’s also grown in lean. Call it the Leaning Yucca of Davis. Yucca queretaroensis today It gets plenty of sun, and yet it’s leaning towards the west as if to catch every last ray of sunshine. Lately, the lean has become more pronounced, as if gravity is pulling the (no doubt heavy) head down. I have no idea if (or when) it will eventually topple over, but it would definitely crush a few things in its path. The plants inside the yellow oval would get flattened if the yucca fell There’s nothing I do to make this Yucca queretaroensis straight. It’s simply too big and too heavy ...